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BROCHURES

The idea of making a list of European Heritage Sites was initiated by France during The European Cultural Meetings held in Granada in April 2006. Modelled on the famous list of the UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, the list is aimed at drawing a map of sites of significant European dimension directly identified with Europe and maintaining the European identity.

The European Heritage Label is awarded to both tangible and intangible sites, which are of exceptional and profound importance to history as well as cultural heritage of Europe.

The Acropolis of Athens, Cluny Abbey, the Berlin Wall and the Schumann house were among others the first objects to have been enlisted by EHL.

It was in 2007 when the City of Lublin was bestowed with the European Heritage Label for the first time. The sites and objects acknowledged with the title are related to the signing of the Polish-Lithuanian Union in 1569, i.e. the Saint Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church with the Dominican Monastery, the Holy Trinity Chapel and the Union of Lublin monument. The City of Lublin symbolizes a European idea of integrity, supranational heritage of democracy and tolerance. On top of that it stands for a cultural mediation between the East and the West.

In compliance with the Decision No 1194/2011/UE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 establishing the activities of the European Union within the framework of the European Heritage Label (Official Journal of the European Union 303/3 of 22 November 2011 all sites which had been endowed with EHL up to then, were asked to apply for the title yet again. The pool of international experts awarded the EHL to the City of Lublin for the second time on 19 December 2014. The European Commission confirmed its decision of granting the EHL to the City of Lublin on 10 March 2015 (OJ EU 2015/C 83/03). The award-giving ceremony will take place in Solvay Library in Brussels 15-16 April 2015.

The heritage of the idea of the Polish-Lithuanian Union 1569 is reflected in the Lublin monuments: the Union of Lublin monument at the Lithuanian Square,

the Holy Trinity Chapel and The Dominican Monastery Complex which witnessed the signing of the Union and since then they have commemorated the event. The European Commission was suggested that the aforementioned should be awarded with the EHL in December 2014. The recommendation was made by the pool of experts launched by the European Commission on the basis of application jointly prepared with the officials of the Municipal Office of Lublin, workers of the Lublin Village Open Air Museum and the Dominican Monastery Complex.

The recommendation made to the European Commission included not only the Union of Lublin but also other 15 sites in Europe picked out of 36 sites advocated by EU countries. Aside from Lublin, the Polish nominees were the May 3 Constitution and the Gdańsk Shipyard.

The EHL accentuates a symbolic value of the objects which played a crucial part in the history and culture of Europe as well as forming the European Union. Its aim is to contribute to a citizens’ better understanding of history and the process of constructing the European Union as well as their common yet various cultural heritage combined with democratic values and human rights. The EHL award will be of the exceptional importance to promote values of the Lublin heritage and the contribution of our city in the history of Europe.

The experts report issued 19 December 2014 can be found at the following site:

On March 20-22, 2015, the City of Lublin hosted Mr Luc Dumoulin and Mr Pierre Holland, two journalists from Mostra S.A., a Belgian company which was offered by the European Commission to produce films presenting the EHL awarded sites. The screening of the films will take place during the Label awarding ceremony in Solvay Library in Brussels on April 15, 2015.

Lublin's Municipal Conservator's Office staff, together with the film crew, visited the sites related to the signing of the Union of Lublin, i.e. the Holy Trinity Chapel, Dominican monastery and the Union of Lublin monument at Plac Litewski square. Apart from the sites commemorating the signing of the Union, the two journalists also captured the footage of the Old Town and historical area of the city centre, including the view from the Donjon and the Czwartek Hill.

The film includes interviews with Mr Michał Karapuda, Director of the Department of Culture of the Lublin Municipal Office, and with Ms Anna Czajczyk from the Lublin Museum. The film crew were accompanied by the Lublin Municipal Office staff as well as the students of the Unia Lubelska Secondary School no. 3 and young athletes from the Lublin Taekwon-do Sports Club.

A total of 16 sites considered valuable to the history and cultural heritage of Europe were awarded with the EHL in Solvay Library in Brussels on April 15, 2015.

Below you will find a link to the footage from the award-giving ceremony. In the 35th minute of the film starts a few minutes long presentation of “The Union of Lublin” film by Luc Dumoulin and Pierre Holland. Minute 48 presents a quiz about the EHL sites and minute 51 shows the City of Lublin being awarded. In the 95th minute the so-called “family picture” is featured.

On 28 April 2015, at the Lublin castle, which is the seat of the Lublin Museum, a press conference was held devoted to the re-awarding the City of Lublin with the European Heritage Label. Representatives of institutions who hold custody of objects signifying Union of Lublin conclusion took part in an aforementioned conference. The Lublin Museum, which manages the Holy Trinity Chapel, was represented by Sławomir Sosnowski, Marshal of Lubleskie Voivodship as well as Katarzyna Mieczkowska, Museum Director. Church and Monastery Complex of the Dominican Order was represented by Prior Grzegorz Kluz, The Lublin City Hall, which is a custodian of the Lublin Union Monument – Mayor of Lublin Krzysztof Żuk and Hubert Mącik from the Municipal Office for Historic Preservation.

The Union of Lublin Act was included among the objects of documentary heritage, which were entered on the UNESCO's "Memory of the World Programme" international list. The document was submitted for inclusion jointly by five countries – Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia. Concluded on July 1, 1569, in Lublin, the Union gave birth to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This is a unique testimony of the state union drafted in early modern times, following negotiations and a bilateral agreement, with the Parliament being actively engaged in the process of negotiation and subsequently in functioning of the Union. As an end result of the multicultural and multinational Jagiellonian’s monarchy and prior Polish-Lithuanian unions, thanks to its bearing, the Union of Lublin contributed to strengthening of civic, republican and democratic tendencies of its times. The only surviving act of the Union is in the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw.

The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme was created in 1992 and its main purpose is to protect documentary heritage from around the world. On the World List of the Program "Memory of the World" there are seventeen objects of documentary heritage submitted by Poland. In 2017, apart from the act of the Union of Lublin, two other Polish documents were entered on the UNESCO’s International List; namely the radio interview from the Battle of Warsaw and Jurgen Stroop's report on the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

MEETINGS

International meeting entitled “Celebration of two Unions. European Heritage Label - Study Visit in Lublin and Warsaw” was held on July 3-4, 2017 and gathered representatives of EHL sites. The first day’s agenda was organised by the Municipal Conservator’s Office of the Lublin Municipal Office, while the second day’s agenda was prepared by the head office of the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw.

A conference was held at the Crown Tribunal in Lublin. After welcome address by Mr Krzysztof Komorski, Deputy Mayor for Culture, Sports and Participation, keynote speakers addressed participants on the following subjects: “The Union of Lublin in a historical and cultural memory of Lithuania”, a lecture by Professor Jūratė Kiaupienė (Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius, Lithuania), and “The Union of Lublin of 1569 and its historical significance”, a lecture by Professor Ryszard Szczygieł (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland). Then, preceded by the addresses from the representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the first part of the presentation of EHL sites commenced. We had the pleasure to host the representatives of Archeological Site of Carnuntum (Petronell-Carnuntum, Austria), Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, non-profit organisation Mundaneum (Mons, Belgium) and Łużna Municipality (Poland), a rural municipality which takes care of the World War I Eastern Front Cemetery No. 123 in Łużna–Pustki. After a short coffee break, participants were addressed by the representatives of the Imperial Palace Vienna (Austria), Peace Palace (the Hague, the Netherlands), Krapina Neanderthal Museum and Hušnjakovo Site (Krapina, Croatia) as well as of the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk (Poland).

The next item in the agenda was a study visit, during which the meeting participants were shown the sites commemorating the signing of the Union of Lublin, i.e. the Holy Trinity Chapel at the Lublin Castle, Dominican Monastery and the Union of Lublin Monument at the Plac Litewski square.

On the second day of the meeting all the participants visited the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, where director Mr Hubert Wajs, together with his colleagues, presented the EHL awarded Constitution of 3 May 1791 as well as the Act of the Union of Lublin document. During this visit the hosts discussed, among others, the history of the two documents, conservation issues as well as educational and promotional activities.

On July 11-14, 2017 a delegation of employees from the Lublin City Hall, i.e. Ms Katarzyna Czerlunczakiewicz and Mr Michał Trzewik (Municipal Conservator’s Office), participated in an international conference “Cultural Heritage 3.0: Audience and Access in Digital Era” which took place in Tallinn and Tartu (Estonia). Participants of the meeting discussed the opportunities of digitization employed to disseminate cultural heritage and to popularise, in particular, collections held by various types of cultural institutions, including museums and libraries as well as archives in custody of self-government institutions. Some of the fundamental questions that conference participants have asked themselves were:
- what is the role of culture and cultural heritage in building stronger social bonds;
- how to increase the number of recipients of cultural heritage resources and how to boost the potential of entities dealing with this subject.
The meeting was opened by the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Estonia, Mr Indrek Saar, and the Director-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission, Mr Jens Nymand Christensen. Their welcome address was followed by the opening lecture by Professor Pier Luigi Sacco. The conference was a panel discussion with all of the guests being engaged. In the afternoon, the conference took the form of thematic workshops concerning, among others, issues like good practices in building an offer for recipients interested in accessing collections held by cultural institutions and archives; problems and challenges emerging at the digitization and sharing of resources; developing tools for easy access to digitized materials and, finally, high-tech technologies, and so on, and so forth. In addition, the workshops were an opportunity for knowledge sharing.
The second day of the conference was devoted primarily to the issue of cultural heritage and its impact on economic development of particular cities and historical sites. Also, this day was about perceiving heritage as a driving force behind economy development, accentuating a development of tourism industry. A meeting of EHL sites’ representatives was held concurrently under the name of “European Heritage Label Days 2017.” The workshops aimed to find a common denominator on how to network all the EHL awarded sites.
It is worth to emphasise the professionalism and flawless conduct of all meetings, as well as a thoughtful arrangement of study visits, effective organisation and first-class logistics.

DISSEMINATION AND COMMUNICATION

In December 2015, a mural depicting an armorial bearing with a doubled coat of arms of Poland and Lithuanian Pahonia appeared on the peak wall of one of the blocks of flats at ul. Hutnicza street. According to its author, Rafał Roskowiński, a Gdańsk artist and co-founder of Gdańsk School of Mural, it is not only to commemorate Lublin as the place where the Union was signed, but also to remind us of the importance and values of this extremely significant moment in the history of Poland. Moreover, the mural was created as a PhD project of the painter whom we asked a couple of questions.

Municipal Conservator’s Office: Where did the idea of the Union of Lublin-related mural come from?Rafał Roskowiński: I wanted a Lublin mural, a mural that would be deeply rooted in the history of Poland and the city. The Union of Lublin seemed appropriate andnot very controversial. It is to remind us that we have nothing to be ashamed of and that we were once a mighty nation before whom Prussian and Moscow princes were kneeling down.MCO:What are the mural dimensions and what are the paints and other materials that were used to create the mural?RR:It is 15 metres high and 11 metres wide. I used Polish paint Primacol.MCO:In your opinion, what is the project sustainability, provided there is no interference with its appearance?RR:At least 30 years. MCO:What was the cooperation with local residents like? Did you manage to arouse their interest in the mural’s subject? Did they have any knowledge about the depicted event?RR: They were effectively informed about the event. My “Tatars” [the block of flat on which the mural was created is located in the “Tatary” district – MCO] turned out to be really interested in history. Our cooperation in painting sports clubs’ emblems was a huge success. I think they are all proud of the mural in their district.

For more information, please see this very interesting review of the mural-PhD project:

LECTURES

"The Union of Lublin – an achievement of a common Polish-Lithuanian Sejm in 1569” lecture was held by Professor Ryszard Szczygieł at the Lublin Castle on July 1, 2016 on the occasion of the anniversary of the signing of the Union of Lublin.

File to download.

GALLERY

PUBLICATIONS

UNION OF LUBLIN (1569) BROCHURE – A historic Europe-wide example of a unique integration of two countries and a turning point in the development of democratic principles.

The concept of the brochure was elaborated essentially by a Lublin team composed of Ms Małgorzata Kowalczyk, Mr Hubert Mącik, Mr Michał Trzewik and Ms Marlena Wronka, while the language editing, graphic design and typesetting remained on the side of the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw. The brochure was prepared in three language versions: Polish, English and German. In 2015, with the funds of the Municipal Conservator’s Office, all language versions were printed out.